While Palmerton Area School District and its teachers' union wait on a recommendation following a June 28 arbitration hearing, it doesn't appear the two sides will be meeting for further negotiations.

A representative from the Palmerton Area Teachers Association said the union reached out to the district for a bargaining session, but the request was turned down.The district, meanwhile, said it also offered to meet to discuss "significant positive changes in the district's proposal," but wasn't happy with the terms under which the union wanted to negotiate."At the June 28 hearing, both David Conn, the school district's partial arbitrator, and Walter De Treaux, the neutral arbitrator, suggested that both sides continue to negotiate as the arbitration process moves forward," said Michelle Muffley, representing the union. "The PAEA negotiations team reached out to the district's negotiations committee, to gauge the board's interest in meeting. Several days later, the district's negotiations committee reported on behalf of the board to PAEA team that the association's invitation was declined."Chuck Myers, school board president, said when the district reached out to try to schedule a meeting, it initially received no response."Later, the association offered to meet with only one or two of the district's team, which is not acceptable to the team," Myers said in an email. "The district's full negotiations team stands ready to meet with the association, especially after the district offered many concessions at the fact-finding in order to move the parties closer together."Most notably, Myers said, "The district agreed to return to a salary matrix and schedule which the association made the centerpiece of its strike last year."To date, the association's proposal have remained unchanged since day one of bargaining," he said.Palmerton's teachers contract expired on June 30, 2016, and union members went on strike in January for two weeks.Originally, the district had offered teachers a 3.25 percent increase each year and new teachers would start at $50,000.PAEA, however, wanted to keep a salary schedule it said was used in 500 other districts across the state.According to Myers, the district has since been willing to put a salary schedule back on the table.The July 5 offer from the teachers to meet was the second attempt from the union to get something on the calendar since the arbitration process began, Muffley said."Sadly, the board continues to ignore the community voices who want negotiations to continue," PAEA posted recently on Facebook.